Pitch Perfect Prompt Pile
by MightyTacos
Summary: A seemingly endless collection of assorted prompts and inspirations that I applied to Pitch Perfect. One shots span from domestic Bechloe to whatever weird things I find on the internet. Shoot a request! My tumblr: thesupercw
1. Shower Visit

Prompt:

*pulls shower curtain back while wife is in the shower*  
me: "Are we- stop screaming, it's just me- are we out of Cheetos?"

* * *

Heavily-pressured water splattered onto the floor of the shower, creating a small whirlpool with soap suds by the drain. Beca let the water run down the front of her body, enjoying the near piping-hot temperature. The ensuing steam rose from the showerhead, nipping at the dark eyeliner she painted onto her lids earlier in the day.

Beca had a preference for afternoon showers, enduring relentless teasing for picking "such a weird time" to bathe. During school, most of her friends either took morning showers before class or took showers before bed. Beca's usual 2pm showertime meant that she didn't have to fight to use the shower, and it gave her a midday pick-me-up when it was too late to have a second round of coffee. Even after moving out of the house she shared with the 10 members of her college acapella group, she still found herself making time for her oddly placed routine in the small house she shared with her wife. Beca's wife was also the one who decided the interior décor of the bathroom, and why Beca was surrounded by pale pink tiles on all four sides. Although initially embarrassed by the pink walls, Beca formed a fondness over the soft color and now had to pretend that it wasn't actually her favorite room of the house. Sometimes she spent an extra five minutes under the water with her hand placed against the wall, cleansing her mind from some of the bullshit she had to deal with now that she was a big-time producer. Her manager was mainly in charge of her schedule, arranging meetings with potential clients in the mornings and enforcing promotional events in the evenings. The last workweek consisted of meeting with the same client four times, even though Beca told her manager not to set her up with him again after the second time. The last meeting left her extraordinarily agitated, and her publicist had to assure her that she wasn't crazy. She really should fire her manager.

"Hey, are we out of kale?" Beca had been so overwhelmed in her thoughts about work that she didn't hear someone come into the bathroom door and slide open the shower curtain.

"Chloe, what the fuck!" Beca shouted back, scrambling into the corner of the shower and crossing her arms over her chest.

Chloe clicked her tongue, replying in almost a scolding manner: "Beca, I've seen you naked before. In fact, I see you naked like, everyday. Why are you hiding?"

"You scared the fuck out of me!"

"Oh stop screaming, you're such a baby." Chloe hummed back, prompting a pout and soft grumbling from Beca. "So, are we out of kale?"

"Since when do we eat kale?" Beca mocked the seemingly bland vegetable, associating it with hipsters and socially stated vegans. She swore she's never seen it in the fridge, and made a point to avoid it when she went shopping. Besides, she swore she had a higher proponent for spinach anyway.

"Since I've been cooking it with most of our meals for the last month." Chloe's eyes beamed a twinkling blue, complimenting the small smile she emitted when she realized Beca has been eating kale for several weeks now without noticing. The fact that Beca was continually praising the new dishes Chloe was crafting made it even better.

Beca stepped forward to meet the gaze of the redhead, cocking her head forward in disbelief as she stuttered: "You've been secretly feeding me kale this entire time?"

"With smoothies, fish, salads, potatoes." Chloe rattled off, looking at the celling to help remember. "You love it!"

"Beale." The small brunette pleaded, matching Chloe's height by being a few inches off the ground in the tub of the shower.

Chloe leaned in, almost touching Beca's face as she whispered: "That's Mrs. Mitchell, to you." She followed up with a small peck to Beca's lips, pulling back slowly as she sported glinted eyes. "I'll add it to the shopping list."

Beca shook herself out of Chloe's daze, immediately trying to splash water onto her fully clothed companion. Unsuccessful drops scattered across the mirror as Chloe was now making a beeline for the door. Giggles spurted from her lips as she slipped out of the bathroom, leaving the door still open behind her.

"Ughhhhh." Beca huffed, rolling her eyes but still cracking a smile that easily grew across her face. She actually liked kale just as much as she now liked the color pink.


	2. Ski Lift

Prompt:

Two characters get paired for a ride on a doubles ski lift where they end up skiing/riding together the rest of the day, finally taking off their helmets at the end to discover the other was equally as beautiful/handsome.

* * *

"Singles!" A booming voice called from the lift, ushering the several cue lines to get onto the chairs. He alternated across four different lines, snaking back and forth to keep a steady flow of people going.

"Oo, me!" Chloe scooted towards the front of the line, propelling herself with her ski poles. She had come to the ski resort with her two friends, and they liked to alternate who was going to get to ride single with each run down the mountain. Chloe normally didn't mind, and even enjoyed riding with another rando in the lift line because that means she got to have different spurts of small talk with lots of new people. "See you up top!" She flashed a hidden smile to her friends behind her as she waited at the red line embedded in the snow. To her right pedaled her temporary lift buddy, a smaller figure wearing a purple jacket and a black helmet.

The two loaded onto the chair and put down the safety bar before Chloe spoke up to initiate conversation: "I like the design on your snowboard." She referenced the bold, abstract tile design that filled the top and bottom.

The purple-jacketed stranger lifted her knees up and looked down at her board, replying: "Oh, thanks. One of my artist friends designed the deck." Chloe looked over at her, registering the voice to the image of the person beside her. Her face was cloaked by black goggles and a black balaclava, leaving only the tip of her nose visible. The particularly dark ensemble heavily contrasted Chloe's gear, which included a bright neon blue jacket and rainbow reflector goggles.

"I was always jealous of how cool snowboards looked. You can't do much for skis." Chloe flung her legs up, hinting at her how plain her equipment looked.

"You mean you don't like all white skis with the brand in huge letters on them?" The girl asked, amusement in her voice to alleviate the edge of the sarcasm-riddled question.

Chloe chose to reciprocate the humor. "It definitely needs more branding. Maybe I can put some stickers or something on them so I can feel like I'm a NASCAR driver." She giggled, causing an eruption of laughs from the other girl on the lift. "I'm Chloe, by the way."

"Beca." The now identified girl answered, figuring that a long lift ride was enough to elicit her name. The two girls were riding from the lowest lift to one of the higher peaks, meaning the ride was going to be upwards of twenty minutes. Beca adjusted her gloves, retracting her fingers into a fist in an attempt to keep them warm. "It's cold as balls!"

"Do you need hand warmers?" Chloe's voice was gentle but filled with concern, already pulling out a packet of hand warmers from one of her many jacket pockets.

Upon seeing the package, Beca's voice got serious. "Those things are like gold, you'd really sacrifice some?"

"My brother works for the rental shop, I'm like, loaded with these." Chloe handed over the goodies, which were graciously accepted. "That's kinda why I use mittens anyway." She joked, giving a jazz hands motion.

Beca wasn't used to this manner of kindness, mainly because she was from a city where people didn't care about helping you and just wished you'd move out of the way. She adopted that sort of attitude not only to fit in, but also because it happened to compliment her longstanding resting bitch face. As the two continued to talk, Beca later learned that Chloe was from a suburb outside of Savannah, Georgia, which tended to explain several components to her personality. Beca had heard about "southern hospitality" on a debate off Reddit, but now was able to connect it to an example. The bubbling source of energy, however, Beca could not place.

Along the lift ride, the two ended up bonding over music – Chloe over her college acapella group and Beca over her mixing style and religious upkeep on SoundCloud. Beca had not heard about acapella groups prior to Chloe, but it sounded just weird enough to be something worth watching. It was definitely something Chloe was insanely passionate about, and Beca allowed her to ramble about it for the rest of the lift ride until they were loading off the chair and heading towards a large map around the side of the peak.

Chloe knew her friends were only a few chairs behind them, and was almost disappointed when they peered over the top of the lift and dismounted. She didn't want to leave her new friend yet. And yes, she was now claiming Beca as her friend.

"I could always spot that blue coat anywhere." Two girls glided to meet Chloe and Beca at the map, coming to a slow stop.

Chloe giggled then introduced her two best friends to Beca. "Aubrey, Stacie, this is Beca!" The two waved in a polite hello, but felt that it was odd being that no one could see each other's faces and they'd probably never see Beca again. It was a large ski resort.

"Do you want to meet at the bottom? Beca wants company on a blue trail." Chloe blatantly lied, hoping to spare more time. Beca could easily hide an eyebrow raise and smirk behind her dark goggles, patiently watching what Chloe was attempting to accomplish.

"Sure thing, see you down." Aubrey assured before she and Stacie headed towards one of the thinner tree-lined trails. Little to Chloe's knowledge, Aubrey was actually secretly elated to be cast off with Stacie when she otherwise would have pitched a fit that Chloe was ditching them on a run with some rando from the lift. Regardless, the two pairs split up and Stacie and Aubrey disappeared through the snow.

"A blue? What was that about?" Beca asked when the coast was clear.

"We bonded over acapella, you can't just let that kind of friendship drop down the mountain just like that!" Chloe's tone hinted close to crazy, but Beca knew the girl was just fervent over her singing group.

"I don't think I've ridden a blue in like, five years." Beca mocked, crossing her arms to make an exaggerated statement.

"It was just a cover, we don't have to take a blue. There's plenty of black diamonds on this side of the mountain." Chloe pointed up at the map, hinting towards a section to the left. "Besides, don't shit on blues! Sometimes they're nice and gentle for when your knees start to hurt."

Chloe's innocence caused an eruption of laughter from Beca, who paused the tough girl act temporarily. "Alright, we'll take the friggin' blue."

Beca had been at this particular ski resort for several years in a row, knowing the trails by heart. She knew which ones got a bit icy towards the end of the day, and which ones had the tendency to form moguls from the traffic of people riding around lumps. So it was only second nature that she could pick the appropriate trail for their excursion.

The two made their way down, Chloe taking more swopping turns on her skis and Beca near plummeting at high speeds without doing much turning. Although Beca wasn't used to riding with a buddy, she realized she was a little too fast for Chloe and ended up waiting for her near a connecting trail. When they met up again, Beca slowed considerably, matching Chloe's pace.

Chloe was a more cautious rider in general, and wasn't too keen on high speed. She'd rather just glide along the trail merrily, taking in the sight of snow on the evergreens. Except this run, she found herself constantly watching Beca, who was swiveling back and forth on her board. She left a ripple indent into the snow, riding like a swimming fish and flicking her hips. Beca's distraction almost caused Chloe to fall several times, since Chloe was paying less attention to skiing and more attention to Beca's seemingly sensual riding ability. When they made it to the bottom by the next ski lift, Chloe had to shake her quasi-haze from her brain before attempting to talk again. However, Chloe didn't even need to ask if Beca wanted to ride with her again. They just ended up in the lift line and were loaded onto a chair a few minutes after. Chloe realized once in the air that she had technically ditched her friends at this point, but she did end up at another part of the resort and was technically on a different lift so they couldn't really be that mad at her.

Beca initiated conversation this time, and the girls swapped ski stories and various winter memories. She assumed that Chloe had also been to this resort a lot because her brother worked there, but it turns out Chloe had only been skiing for three years on an inconsistent basis. Beca also learned that Chloe enjoyed blue trails because that's where she felt most comfortable with her skill level, not because black diamonds "made her knees hurt." Well, they did, but Chloe was only going down them for her friends. Although Beca immediately felt like an ass for shitting on her skiing ability, Chloe quickly dismissed it and said she'd rather just tough it out to be with her friends.

Every run after that, Beca was instinctively leading Chloe only towards the blues. Chloe noticed early on, but the two never brought it up again – she only trustfully followed the shorter girl up and around, thankful for the break. They ended up riding one after the other, refusing to halt their ongoing adventure. Their lift conversations became less and less awkward, and they found themselves bantering back and forth from Britney Spears to the movies in theaters to weird food trends.

They eventually decided to call it a day, since it was well towards 3:30pm and the lift lines closed at 4:00pm. They parked their equipment outside of the lodge before making their way inside, waddling in their boots up a staircase. Chloe led them to a table by the wall, pulling a bag down from a shelf. Beca always showed up to the mountain ready to ride, but Chloe liked to pack lunches and snacks for everyone since it was always too expensive to buy food at the lodge.

As she started to open up her bag, Chloe steadily took off her gear one by one, starting with the goggles. Beca only watched from her seat, marveling at the process of finally being able to see whom exactly she had been talking to for half the day. Once the goggles came off, Beca was struck by crystalline blue eyes that were touched up with a coat of mascara. She couldn't help staring, but she was lucky that Chloe was too busy shoving stuff into her bag to notice the line of Beca's gaze behind her goggles. Chloe then unclasped her helmet, pulling it off her head to release an array of wavy red hair. The final piece around her mouth was also taken off, revealing a narrow face adorned with pink lips.

Beca guessed she was beautiful, just from Chloe's positive demeanor and kindness and how she giggled when Beca was sarcastic. But she didn't figure she would be this beautiful. Beca had to stifle a "wow" in order to not sound like a complete creeper. Did she know she was this beautiful?

Chloe finished packing her stuff before looking at Beca, who was lost in thought and looking downwards. Eventually, the two made eye contact through Beca's thick goggles, causing her to realize that she was still fully covered and that Chloe deserved somewhat of the same gesture to show her face. Beca wasn't as tantalizingly slow about it, taking off her helmet and the goggles with it in one motion, pulling the balaclava off after. She liberated mousy-brown hair that fell to below her chest, and disclosed eyes that were blue-slate in color. Her nose, which was previously hidden except for the tip, was pointed and now contextualized to the rest of her face.

The two were met with silence as Beca expected Chloe to eyeball her up and down, but they only stared at each other with soft expressions. Chloe finally broke the silence, whispering in awe: "You're beautiful."

Beca immediately blushed, failing to hide her embarrassment before replying. "Thanks…" She waited a moment before adding: "I wasn't expecting the red hair or anything. It's cute – I mean, cool. Kind of surprising, you normally don't see like, bright red around anywhere and you can really rock it." She was rambling at this point, deciding to falter out slowly to keep herself from talking more.

"Do you want to get coffee sometime?" Chloe asked through a tender smile, helping to alleviate the awkwardness flowing from the girl across from her.

"Yeah." Beca breathed, taking out her phone so the two girls could exchange numbers. Once she entered Chloe's contact, she stuffed her phone back in her pocket just in time for Stacie and Aubrey to come towards the table. They were busy chattering, stripping off wet gear in the process. Beca hastily grabbed the rest of her stuff, giving all three girls a quiet goodbye before bounding down the stairs towards outside.

"Why are you so smiley?" Aubrey asked Chloe, interrupting a train of thought and forcing the redhead to again snap out of a daze.

"Nothing!" Chloe answered quickly, causing Aubrey to roll her eyes and Stacie to smirk. It took two girls secretly dating to know that Chloe had the heart eyes for her new lift buddy. They only laughed it off before gathering their stuff and leaving, Chloe still sporting a small smile across her face.


	3. Saturdays are NOT for the Boys

Prompt:

Staubrey fic where Aubrey gets a call from Stacie in the middle of the night saying that she needs "out" of a guys house fast and could she come pick her up

* * *

Notes:

I wanted to avoid the nonconsensual connotation of frat parties, so this fic generally avoids that (Stacie wants to leave the party out of boredom, not because some guy is being touchy, if you know what I mean).

This was my first time writing for these two characters together so their dynamic may not be perfect but I did what was best! :)

* * *

Humid. Sticky. Stale. Dark. Loud: the five components of a basement fraternity party. Stacie found herself at one of these parties at least once a weekend, mingling with the male eye candy that sauntered around the crowds of people holding various drink containers. Having ties to the business school had its perks, since she was always knowledgeable of what houses were throwing down on a day-to-day basis. Although Stacie put in three times more effort towards school than most of her classmates, her studious nature was somewhat of a secret – one she kept hidden from everybody except a certain blonde Barden Bella. Coincidentally, Stacie actually manipulated her ability to act like the typical "dumb girl." It got her into parties just like this one. It also didn't hurt that she was tall and drop-dead gorgeous in a way that she could sneeze and would somehow pull it off as sultry, but her early networking abilities were certainly strategic in terms of social plans.

"Heyyyyyyyyy, Stacie! I finally found you!" A lanky dark-haired guy holding a PBR stumbled up to her, draping his arm around her shoulder. Even at a party packed with upwards of a hundred or so people, plenty of people still knew Stacie.

"Dale!" Stacie beamed, turning to hug the tall figure. Dale was the chapter president of Kappa Delta, and a childhood friend from the same hometown in New Jersey.

"How's the buffet tonight?" He slurred, motioning towards the sea of people that littered across his house. He and Stacie constantly joked about her ability to pick up men, with Dale sometimes even acting as the wingman himself. Little did he know, Stacie was not "out on the prowl," rather, her mind was a little preoccupied to be fishing to get dicked down.

"Two out of five stars at best." She answered after looking around the room, noticing that no one in particular peaked her interest. More like, Aubrey wasn't there and no one even looked like Aubrey, so she didn't care about that Saturday's Kappa Delta clientele.

The uptight blonde had actually been on her mind a lot lately, in a way that Stacie had trouble explaining. Stacie could go on tangents about the intricacies about male machismo – how you have to cradle their fragile egos and respond in a way that makes them think they have all the power, when in reality the girl has it all. She could discuss psychological, physical, and emotional developments and the reasons they act differently when in a "pack." She was also sure she has seen practically every type of dick in the book, including one that had a urethra that exited out of the bottom rather than the tip of the dick. Her status as a sex connoisseur also caused people to flock to her for advice. But when it came to girls? No idea. Zip. Stacie's only sexual encounter with a girl was when one tried to join in on her and Dale fooling around until Stacie objected and walked out, claiming that "she was first place and she didn't like to share the podium." However, she was constantly catching herself scanning her phone for updates from the one and only ~Aubrey Posen~, even when it was well passed two in the morning and she was sure the girl wouldn't be up. The fact that her fast-growing friend from her acapella group made her feel well, aroused, was a puzzle Stacie had yet to figure out. And Stacie always figured it out – she was a mathematician for fuckssake.

"Well, I'm always available for a little trouble." Dale interrupted Stacie's thoughts, dropping a wink before dancing clumsily in place. She stuck her tongue out at him in reply, ripping the beer from his hands and drinking from it with a sense of pride.

"If my standards drop in the next ten minutes, fine." They both laughed, bantering in the way they did when they were teenagers. She sipped from the beer again, lazily leaning against the wall next to her. She could only smile at her friend, a doofus she had known since the tender age of six.

"You can keep that one." He added, leaving Stacie with her thoughts and drifting towards a pong table to bother another one of his friends. Once she realized she was alone once again, she pulled out her phone to read the time.

"Waiting for a call?" A voice spoke into her ear, tainting her airspace with a light touch of hard liquor. Stacie turned around to face the stranger, a stocky member of the campus' ROTC.

Stacie brushed the question off, placing her phone into her back pocket before answering: "Not quite."

The answer seemed to satisfy the rando, who only raised an eyebrow. "I'm Ryan." He introduced, flashing a smile rather than sticking out a hand for a formal handshake. Stacie half-heartedly obliged with the introductions, wishing she were anywhere but here. Her heart wasn't into dealing with the numbed brains that currently surrounded occupied the party. Ryan noticed that her beer was running low, taking it upon himself to announce: "I'm gonna get you another one of those." He pointed to the beer in her hands before disappearing into the kitchen to scrounge for more booze.

Once out of sight, Stacie took her phone back out. She hit a button on the side, reading the time 2:19am before locking the screen again. Her house was an annoyingly far distance enough away to make ditching the party a minor inconvenience, and calling an Uber at this point in the night was expensive, since most of the bars just let out at 2:00am. She could see Ryan on his way back with more beer, and she had little time to debate what to do. "Are you awake?" She typed out, sending the text message with quick brushstrokes of her thumb.

Just as the army boy came back to hand over a can of PBR, Stacie felt a buzz in her hand as her phone screen lit up. "Yeah, everything okay?" The message preview read from the contact Aubrey Posen.

Albeit surprised that Aubrey was still up, Stacie immediately pressed the call button. When she heard it ringing, she held it up to her ear before excusing herself from Ryan. "Friend emergency, sorry. Nice to meet you." The boy only shrugged as Stacie turned around, generally unphased by the leggy brunette walking away from him.

"Hey, what's happening?" She heard from the other end of the line, recognizing the sharply pitched voice coming out of the speakers. It was still hard to hear over the music, so Stacie found herself almost shouting.

"Oh hey, I'm all good. Nothing much is happening. Um, do you think you could maybe pick me up?" It wasn't a farfetched request, since Aubrey had done it plenty of times previously. Usually Chloe was the one that acted like the Barden mother, but Chloe was also at a party and likely not sober enough at this point in the night. "Only If I didn't like, wake you up or anything. I can totally walk." Stacie's voice edged with concern. Even if the walk was upwards of 20 minutes, she'd rather hike than inconvenience Aubrey.

"Oh, I was just working on my essay. Of course I'll pick you up!" The girl on the other end of the line burst with her never-ending sense of positivity. "Be there in 5." Stacie heard keys jangling in the background before Aubrey hung up. Stacie went to grab the coat she stashed in Dale's room before waiting outside.

All the Bellas used the "Find My Friends" tracking app, so Aubrey didn't have to ask where Stacie was before pulling up to the curb by the corner where Stacie usually waited. Stacie bounded for the car, opening the passenger door and collapsing into the leather seats with a sigh followed by a smile.

"Hey you!" Aubrey nudged the brunette.

"You're chipper for 2am." Stacie laughed, grateful for the rescue trip.

Aubrey was actually just excited about who called her rather than the excuse she could think of as an improv answer. "My driving forces are coffee and elitism." She half-quoted a familiar phrase from her father before starting to drive off into the direction of the Barden Bella house.

Stacie grinned before suggesting with a tentative look towards the driver, "Need a study break?"

Aubrey looked at her quickly before breathing, "Oh do I ever!" She pressed down on the gas just a tad harder, as if the extra minute or two she shaved off from the commute was additional energy for later.


	4. Dr Beale

Prompt:

the reason i don't go to the doctor anymore is because i went once and the medical intern was super young and super hot so naturally i got nervous, and when he measured my heart rate he said 'hmm it's…faster than average' and then he smirked. cos he knew. cos i'm not subtle. cos i'm a dumb motherfucker. anyway imagine your OTP

* * *

"Beca?" Beca heard a sweet-sounding voice after a soft knock on the door to the examining room she was placed in just moments before. A nurse had taken her vitals and told Beca that her doctor would be with her shortly.

Beca was new to LA, having only moved there a month prior to start working with a recording studio. Along with her fancy new job and payroll came a sweet benefits package and some high-grade insurance. Her choice of primary care included a list of approved providers by her insurance company, so Beca just had to choose one off the list. She felt stupid for picking the office with the best reviews off Yelp, but she had no other way to judge which was the "best." They all seemed the same to her. Until her new doctor walked in.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Beale." A radiating smile dazzled off the soft face of a gorgeous redhead adorned in a white coat. "Look's like you're my new patient here!"

Beca eyed her up nervously, taking note to how effortlessly the doctor's hair bounced in curls as the girl walked, and how her stethoscope hung around her neck. Beca's gaze ran up the body of the doctor until she awkwardly established eye contact, the doctor still looking at Beca with a smile.

"Oh, uh, yeah," was all Beca could muster, clearing her throat and looking towards the floor.

"Well, welcome to the Beale & Johnson practice!" Dr. Beale moved to sit in the office chair that was by a desk with a computer in front of it.

"Shit, you own this office?" It turns out Beca was speaking to the Beale. She didn't make the connection from the sign out front until the doctor nonchalantly name dropped herself.

"That's correct." Dr. Beale turned her head, giving a sincere smile void of the arrogance that Beca was almost expecting.

"Wow..." Beca muttered as her doctor started tapping away at the computer keyboard, pulling up Beca's file.

"Can you just verify your name and birthdate for me, please?

"Beca Mitchell. September 22, 1992."

"Awesome. So what brings you in today?"

Beca cleared her throat, trying to maintain a decent amount of eye contact without shying away. How long are you even supposed to keep eye contact with a person whilst talking? When do you look away? Even a few seconds dead-on seems too much...

"I think I have a lung or sinus infection or something. I've been congested and I've had a cough for a while now." Beca instinctively coughed, almost to ensure her doctor that she wasn't lying.

"And how long have you had these symptoms?" She asked whilst typing, face pointed towards the screen.

"About three weeks maybe?"

Beca was not one to go to the doctor. She really only went when she thought she was dying or if she needed medications to beat an infection she hadn't been able to kick. Since high school, she had only been to the doctor's twice. One time was because she broke her ankle; the other time because she thought she was having a "miscarriage, or something weird" when it really was just a urinary tract infection. Sitting in front of her new doctor today was a sort of personal feat she had to overcome, mainly because she thought a measly coughing thing wasn't worth bothering someone else's time. However, her college friend and roommate Amy told her she needed to go because she couldn't stand her hacking a lung in the middle of the night anymore. That and, "you should really go to your doctor."

"Okay, let's check out your chest." Dr. Beale announced confidently, only realizing a second later that she said a sexual innuendo once Beca's eyes got wide. "To listen to your lungs." She added, quickly unraveling the stethoscope from her neck and standing in front of Beca.

Dr. Beale placed the cold diaphragm of the stethoscope under Beca's right clavicle, going quiet as she looked away and listened to Beca's wheezing breathing. Beca followed her doctor's instructions on taking deep breaths when asked, but she still managed to shakily exhale. Dr. Beale then moved over to the left side, pausing when she got to the right position.

Beca could smell her doctor's perfume as she bent slightly over to examine her, and she had trouble not looking up to directly see the smooth skin above the redhead's cleavage. Beca instinctively bit her lip, trying better to breathe normally out of her mouth even though she was failing, miserably. She could also feel her own escalating heartbeat against the metal of the stethoscope, and she was desperately hoping her doctor wouldn't detect the hitch in her throat or just how rapid her blood was pumping.

"Your heartbeat." Dr. Beale broke the silence, speaking with a soft smirk. "It's faster than average."

She knew. Oh, she knew.


	5. You're My Girlfriend Now

Prompt:

"We need to talk about our relationship."

"I just won a bet involving 10 tequila shots. You've got about 3 minutes"

* * *

Beca hiccuped, trying to swallow the last shot she just inhaled. The tequila still burned the back of her throat, and her eyes were watering from the slight sting. She was still momentarily lucid, so she shook her head and blinked a few times before starting at Jesse, waiting for a reply.

"10 shots? Beca are you kidding me?" Jesse sputtered in disbelief, placing his hands on each of her forearms and trying to maintain eye contact.

"11 maybe? I think CR threw an extra one in there." Beca squinted in an attempt to think. "What were you saying?"

Jesse sighed before answering: "Maybe this should wait for another time for this type of conversation."

"No, I want to hear what you have to say." Beca said firmly, using the booze to boost her confidence in talking about something that she normally shied away from. Although she was significantly tipsy and about to get a storm of drunk coming in, Jesse wasn't completely sober either.

"Alright, we can go there." Jesse started to speak up, almost shouting to get his word across over the music at the party. "You've been increasingly disinterested in our relationship, you barely answer my texts anymore, and you always seem like you'd rather be somewhere else whenever we're together."

"Nahhh." Beca dismissed his claim with a downward swipe of her hand, almost falling off the stool she was sitting on.

"Is there another guy?" Jesse abruptly asked, squarely staring at the frame of his girlfriend in front of him.

"Jesse, that's nonsense." Beca furrowed her eyebrows, questioning his accusation. "There's no other guy."

Beca looked beyond the gaze of Jesse to a figure dancing in the distance behind him. Her signature red hair was easy to spot in a crowd since she was usually the one stirring up a commotion either with a dance party or through one of her weird hobbies she liked to call "glowsticking." Beca was short to notice that Jesse followed her line of sight, and he was able to quickly figure out just who exactly she was watching.

"Chloe." He muttered almost to himself, but Beca still managed to hear him and snapped her attention back to him.

"Chloe?"

"There's no other guy because it's Chloe." He finalized, looking back up at Beca.

"What? No. That makes no sense." Beca was sputtering now, slurring her short sentences together before going on a seemingly long tangent. "I mean, yeah, Chloe is great and she's my best friend and I'd do anything for her and she brings out the best in me and I love her so much but I'm not cheating with her even though I wish I was."

"Did you just admit you wanted to cheat on me?" Jesse barked, spewing clouds of beer-tainted breath from his mouth.

"Noooo, just that I wish I was." Beca repeated again, slowly failing at her comprehensive skills as she bobbed from side to side.

The two were starting to attract a small viewing party, who were now pointed in the direction of the bar where Beca and Jesse were sitting. Breakups were prime entertainment to sniff out, and the two weren't being particularly quiet at this point.

"Why are you still even dating me then? You're clearly not satisfied here." Jesse accused with an edge to his voice whilst he narrowed his eyes.

"Chloe isn't into me like that, I don't think." Beca mumbled before eyeing Chloe again from afar. Chloe noticed this time, which prompted Beca to yell: "I LOVE YOU WOMAN!"

"I LOVE YOU TOO BECA!" Chloe yelled back with a large grin, continuing to joke grind on Stacie within a large circle of the Barden Bella girls.

"You're a real fucking piece of work." Jesse spat in disdain.

Beca picked up on his tone and use of the curse word directed at her. "Wow okay Jesse, Jesus. Fuck you too then." She stood up from her barstool to match Jesse in height before adding: "I'll just go dance with my new girlfriend then."

"Fine. If that's how this is gonna go." Jesse turned back towards the bar to ditch his now sloppily wasted ex-girlfriend to order another beer.

Beca, with a quick "hmph" and a turn on her coattails, barged right through the crowd of people to make her way to Chloe.

"Hey." Beca breathed, locking eyes with the bouncy redhead.

"Hey Beca." Chloe answered back in a bubbly manner, happy to see that Beca finally joined her on the dance floor for once.

Before she could greet her further, Beca cupped the corners of Chloe's face and swooped in with a firm kiss across her upper lip. Beca missed just slightly since it was still a little difficult to maintain coordination, but she felt Chloe reciprocate with an equally eager press of her lips back.

Beca pulled back abruptly to tell the redhead with an assertive finality: "You're my girlfriend now."

"Okay." Chloe smiled, matching Beca's hands with her own. "Does that mean we can kiss again?"

"Definitely." Beca grinned in reply before letting Chloe initiate the next kiss, which was much more synchronized the second time around.


	6. Favorite Things

Prompt: "The New Volvo XC40 | "Favorite Things" (:30)" Car Commercial

* * *

Beca had been singing different variations of the same song for almost 2 weeks now. After her final performance of the USO tour and her signing under DJ Khaled, Beca Mitchell's producing skills first caught wind under quiet sectors of the advertising market. When the car company Volvo approached her about designing a backdrop for one of their commercials, Beca was thrilled. Volvo was launching their new XC40 SUV, and was planning their advertising campaign for a television commercial. They told Beca the general vibe that their new car release was going for and that their commercial was taking place across a city landscape.

"It's a Scandinavian design, yet sleek. We want it to be the GP's new favorite thing," their marketing representative once told her over a video call. Beca first scoffed at the usage of "GP" instead of "general public" coming out of the mouth of a 54 year old man, but then she realized she had no idea what exactly the commercial was supposed to address. She also had no idea what the specific use of "Scandinavian" meant either. After several google searches, she only came across the blatantly weird cultural stereotypes of viking and snow, so she scratched that idea entirely.

"I don't know what they _want_ , Chlo." Beca whined to her girlfriend, who sat on the leather couch in the living room with her hands clasped around a mug of coffee. "They just keep telling me the same shit about Europe and intuitive design. Their rep isn't helping me like, at all."

"What did they say over the video call?" Chloe asked, eyes peering over the rim of the mug.

"'We want it to be the GP's new favorite thing.'" Beca phrased in a mocking tone. "Who the fuck says GP?"

"Who is the commercial intending to target?"

"Idk, young moms?"

"So something Stacie would want to drive." Chloe hypothesized.

"I mean, I guess so, yeah."

"It sounds like they're a bit older and need a way to enter the market for a younger audience and they want music to reflect that. Try to frame the commercial as if Stacie was watching. Or frame it for music we listen to."

"I don't think they want acappella, as fun as that would be to record."

"Not acappella, dummy. How did you make our setlists?"

Beca stared at her blankly before finally realizing what Chloe was trying to hint. "You mean when I mix?"

"Duh." Chloe playfully sneered, squinting her eyes. "Take something old, and make it current. Make it fun."

Beca nodded in thought, processing Chloe's words before emitting a "love you" and shuffling back towards her mixing equipment in another room. It was in front of her turntable that she got her idea when she kept reflecting on the phrasing "favorite thing."

 _Raindrops on roses_

 _And whiskers on kittens_

 _Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens_

 _Brown paper packages tied up with strings_

 _These are a few of my favorite things_ …

Beca would often sing parts of her mix towards Chloe, enveloping her in an embrace as she almost whispered the lyrics. She figured Chloe would be utterly sick of the song by now, but she always just smiled back. She eventually learned the song through Beca singing it almost constantly, and was able to harmonize back with her. By the end of the first week, Chloe caught Beca singing it almost involuntarily, hearing the tone through the walls of the modest apartment they shared in LA. Beca would be smearing butter on morning toast, murmuring the melody along as she went. Chloe would also hear it when Beca showered, and Chloe even caught herself humming the tune.

 _Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels_

 _Doorbells and sleigh bells_

 _And schnitzel with noodles_

 _Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings_

 _These are a few of my favorite things ..._

Towards week two, even Chloe was starting to get mildly irritated with the song. However, Beca was still going strong on her editing and Chloe didn't want to disturb the process. This was one of her first big deals, and one that was going to pay her remarkably well. Although Beca eventually wanted to drop an EP, she was currently satisfied with doing smaller producing gigs for various companies and their products. As long as her music reached the public, she was happy. So Chloe obliged.

 _Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes_

 _Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes_

 _Silver-white winters that melt into springs_

 _These are a few of my favorite things_ …

"Fucking FINALLY." Chloe heard from the other room, beckoning her to follow the source of the noise. "I got it, Chlo. I'm so fucking AMPED for this."

"Did you finish it?" Chloe asked sweetly, moving to hug the sitting Beca from behind.

"Yes, and it's sent, and it's amazing, and they better fucking love it."

"Obviously they will!"

"Introducing the XC40." Beca announced in a deep voice, panning her palms out in front of her as if the commercial was playing. Chloe erupted into giggles, only hugging her girlfriend tighter.

 _When the dog bites_

 _When the bee stings_

 _When I'm feeling sad_

 _I simply remember my favorite things_

 _And then I don't feel so bad…_

"IT'S ALMOST ON TV, GET YOUR BUTT IN HERE." Beca yelled at Chloe, who took a quick bathroom break before running back into the living room.

Volvo graciously accepted Beca's mix, and they were able to edit the driving shots of the car around the music. They ended up telling her it should be up within several weeks, which fell upon today at the 5:20pm PST time slot for the first airing. Once Beca saw the profile of the all too familiar SUV she had seen thousands of pictures of, she started violently slapping Chloe's arm in delight. They hugged each other in anticipation, Chloe watching Beca's face as her work emitted from the speakers of their apartment.

 _Raindrops on roses_

 _And whiskers on kittens_

 _Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens_

 _Brown paper packages tied up with strings_

 _These are a few of my favorite things._

Chloe and music. Those were, in fact, a few of her favorite things.


	7. Meet the Mitchells

"Why do you never talk about your family?" Chloe looked up from her book to glance at Beca, who was snuggled under a blanket on the couch browsing through her phone.

"What do you mean?" Beca placed her phone down, brows furrowing in confusion. "I've talked about them plenty of times."

"You mentioned that you come from a big family and that your parents live in New York City." Chloe stated flatly.

"Yeah, see? You know about my family." Beca picked up her phone again, continuing to scroll through her social media feed.

"Beca, I'm serious."

Beca sighed before sitting up properly to address her girlfriend. "What about them do you even want to know?"

"I want to meet them. You've met mine, and I feel like it's about time in our relationship that you reciprocate the favor." Chloe sported a stern yet small smile in an attempt to get her rugged girlfriend to open up.

"They're nothing special. You wouldn't want to meet them anyway." Beca fiddled with her thumbs, avoiding eye contact.

"Beca, of course I want to meet them. Your parents and each of the mysterious siblings you seem to have."

"Four. I have four siblings."

"Okay, well, all four of them. I'm sure they're lovely." Beca scoffed at the mention but didn't say anything in reply. "They're gonna come for Aca-Family Weekend, right?"

"What? What the hell is Aca-Family Weekend." Beca finally looked up, panic starting to seep behind her blue slate irises.

"Uh, the event Stacie and I have been planning for like, months. You know, Aca-Family Weekend!" Chloe motioned with open palms, an edge of frustration tinting at her voice. "We never got to all get together and celebrate since our last big ICCA win so we're having a big dinner event and whatnot."

Beca looked back down again, afraid to meet Chloe in the eyes. "I thought Barden already had a family weekend back when fall semester started."

"Yes, and every family came but yours."

"They're busy people." Beca weakly lied, knowing that her mother especially wanted to visit her at Barden but Beca always insisted she stay home.

"You're lucky Amy got a hold of one of your sisters this time." Chloe chose to state matter-of-factly, placing her book neatly on the coffee table.

"She did what?" Beca spat, standing up to tower over Chloe, who was still sitting in her arm chair.

"Bethany, the teacher. Amy says she wasn't that hard to find since she's unmarried and still goes by Ms. Mitchell." Chloe met Beca's gaze, maintaining her calm composure. "Maybe they'll get to come to Aca-Family Weekend!"

"Chloe, what the FUCK." Beca's face fell into her hands as her figure crumpled before her girlfriend.

"Hey, sweetie, what's wrong?" Chloe reached to grab for Beca, who immediately shrugged her away.

"Why the fuck would you guys do that? Don't you need my permission for that sort of shit?"

"We thought they could surprise you." Chloe murmured softly as she tried to meet Beca with worried eyes.

"Well fucking SURPRISE, you fucked up." Beca threw her hands down before breaking out of the living room and charging upstairs. A rough slam of a wooden door followed a few seconds after.

 **Chloe Beale:**

I told you. She isn't thrilled.

Chloe sent a text through her phone, biting her lip as she waited for a reply.

 **Stacie Conrad:**

Aca-Family Weekend should have all families there! It just wouldn't be right otherwise.

 **Chloe Beale:**

But what if Beca just straight doesn't come now?

 **Stacie Conrad:**

Um, she has to. We're having it at the Bella House anyway, she can't just not come home for like 3 days. And we already got her family to come.

 **Chloe Beale:**

Amy did find her sister particularly fast

 **Stacie Conrad:**

Yeah, so now she like has to come. Plus, it's this weekend so she better get over it fast.

Chloe clicked her phone shut. She was nervous to say the least; she had never seen Beca that easily rattled before. Even though the tantrum wasn't exactly justified, she was still concerned for her girlfriend. Beca had met Chloe's parents, so why couldn't she meet Beca's? Beca was a little independent and rough around the edges but her family didn't seem like it was full of terrible people. Bethany seemed grateful for the invite. So, what exactly was Beca hiding?

Beca was hiding the fact that her family was full of rich bougie people that were nothing like Beca. Mr. Mitchell was a big-shot who went to Stanford for both undergraduate and graduate degrees. He was the captain of the water polo team and graduated summa cum laude in the school of business. Her mom came from a small college nearby, where she studied fashion and interior design. Today, her dad was the owner of the world's top plastics producer and her mom the owner and fashion mogul of an impressive boutique that designed garments for major awards events. To anyone that asked, Beca told her friends that her dad was the manager of an engineering firm and that her mom worked for a crafts store. Obviously, this was a stretch, but it was better than admitting that she was related to both Robert Mitchell and Claire Lagerfeld.

Her parents weren't bigots or even that terribly arrogant. They were kind and patient and raised their kids on the basis that hard work could land you wherever you wanted in life. Coming from a rich white family, that ideology was obtainable. However, Beca wanted to distance herself from the financial privilege that seeped out of the pores of her parents. She didn't share their elitist imagery and instead bonded with people at school who didn't constantly talk about weird cheeses and Maseratis – people who didn't need to flaunt their status to keep up with a public image. To her, that was just a competition of who could whip out the biggest dick.

Beca's near repulsion to materialism is exactly why she came to a liberal arts school to pursue music theory on her own scholarship, despite her option of a full ride to her dad's alma mater. She couldn't say the same of her siblings, who all took full advantage of the Mitchell family label to land fancy jobs. The eldest, Robert Jr., was in real estate law and worked for a well-known law firm also in NYC. He was boisterous and aggressively humorous, but the age gap between Beca and Robert Jr. prevented them from ever getting that close. Her second brother Michael was an accountant based in San Francisco, and he weirdly enough was good friends with Matt Damon. Although his job seemed uninteresting to Beca, his gentle nature caused him to be her favorite because, of course, everyone naturally has a favorite no matter how much they'll try to lie about it. The third and fourth children were her two sisters: Alex and Bethany. Alex, more specifically Dr. Scott, was Beca's only married sibling who happened to practice neurology up in Seattle. She had a coarse yet confident nature, but Beca didn't like her kiss-ass tendencies and thought she acted like a "buttlicker." Meanwhile, Bethany was soft, introverted, and polar opposite to Beca. Even though Bethany was only 3 years older than Beca, Beca felt like she had to protect Bethany instead of the other way around, just because of how often people liked to take advantage of her sister's yes-man nature.

After the almost extensive list of her family, Beca brought up the rear as the youngest and the only one still in school. When compared to law, accounting, medicine, and teaching, Beca's "music theory" major seemed like an utter dud. But she still wanted to become a major music producer, and the distance from her family's ever-expanding success let her blossom in her own time. Which is why the sudden eruption to her bubble of independence was being shattered by the stupid concept of "Aca-Family Weekend."

 **Beca Mitchell:**

How did you find my sister?

 **Fat Amy:**

Don't ask stupid questions

 **Fat Amy:**

Also, just ask her when she's here this weekend

Beca threw her phone on her bed in frustration, not understanding why she even bothered to ask in the first place. She had three days. Three days. Until the Mitchell family shit storm was bound to arrive.

* * *

"Do you like the decorations?" Chloe asked her girlfriend, who was staring off in the distance beyond the tent that was set up behind the Bella House.

"Sorry, what?" Beca snapped back to the present moment, squinting at the sight of familiar red hair.

"The decorations. Do you think they look nice?"

Beca peered around the backyard, consciously taking in the layout for the first time, even though she had already been outside for upwards of half an hour.

A large encompassing rectangular tent covered their heads, intentionally drooping at various points before peaking in the center. Tables covered with long tablecloths lined the shorter sides of the tent, and several of the Bellas were starting to place platters of food on their surfaces. Round tables were littered strategically around the inside, a few daring to spread beyond the shade of the tent. Before Beca was about to answer Chloe, she noticed a table with a different colored tablecloth surrounded by large speakers.

"I figured you could DJ."

Beca glanced at Chloe, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Beca answered. Not only could she perform what she actually lives to do, she could also avoid the swarm of her family from bothering her for a seemingly large portion of the event.

"And yes, you still have to introduce me to your family." Chloe added with a wink, reading Beca's insecure thoughts.

Beca exhaled with a large huff before retreating inside to gather some of her equipment. As she collected her belongings and scoured her mixes to assemble a quick set, the rest of the Bella families were beginning to arrive downstairs. She could tell by the increase in noise that enough people were outside, but as she peered through the window, she could tell that her family was not there. Taking that as her queue, Beca made her way back outside to set up by her designated table and speakers.

"Do you take requests?" Amy sauntered up to Beca's table, leaning over and almost whispering her question with her flared accent.

"Only for you." Beca joked, leaning to meet Amy halfway. "What do you got?"

"Africa. By Toto." Amy held up a folded twenty bill between two fingers before looking around to see who was watching.

"Amy. I don't need your money." Beca stood back up straight, pushing her hand away.

"Shortstack, I need this. Don't make me fill your pillowcase with pudding." Amy glared through fiery eyes.

"That. is a very specific threat…" Beca sputtered in confusion, cocking her head slightly at the odd sight of one of her best friends.

"You know what to do." Amy placed the bill on Beca's turntable before disappearing.

Beca pocketed the twenty with a shrug, looking at the conglomerate of her music files to figure out where best to place Amy's choice. Her mix today was more "Independence Day Barbeque" than the stuff she made for the Bellas, so realistically it could go anywhere.

"Eh, fuck it." Beca muttered to herself, dropping the "Africa" file to someplace random in the set. She'd deal with it on the fly once it came up.

Every now and then Beca would leave her table as the mix played, mainly to snag food and talk to other parents. She loved Chloe's parents especially; they were so warm and exponentially southern that sometimes Chloe would fall into the same local Georgian accent. Chloe's parents accepted them as a couple, which was originally a fear of Beca's since they came from the south. Beca eventually realized that was a gross assumption after she met them the first time, since all they seemed to radiate was sunshine – just like their daughter.

"So where's your family darlin'?" Chloe's mom asked with a grin, looking around the tent for people that didn't look familiar to her.

"Uh, I guess not here." Beca shrugged, managing to hide the anxiety and gratitude of her family being MIA.

"Oh, wait! Is that them, Beca?" Chloe slapped Beca excitedly, pointing to a group of people walking through the lawn on the side of the house.

Leading was her dad, still in formal business attire, with her mom in an aggressively floral dress print. Beca counted each of her siblings as they followed: one, two, three four. All of them came.

"Yeah." Beca exhaled with a sigh. "That would be them."

Chloe squealed, grabbing Beca's hand before walking briskly to greet the Mitchells. Her mom attempted to scan the crowd for Beca before realizing her daughter was planted right in front of her.

"Beca, honey!" Her mom immediately wrapped her in to a tight hug with Beca flailing her arms out in reply.

"Hi, mom." Beca responded sheepishly, pulling back with a blush.

Beca's mom made a quick up and down of Chloe before flashing a huge smile. "And you must be Chloe!"

"Chloe Beale, nice to meet you." Chloe masked her original sense of confusion before eagerly extending her hand. Little did Chloe know, Beca's entire family already knew that they were dating.

"Nice pick, Becs." Robert Jr. gave her a punch to the upper arm before circumventing the family circle and making a bee-line for the food.

"Shut it." She hissed in his direction.

The rest of Beca's family all introduced themselves to Chloe, who they happened to fall in love with immediately. It was difficult to not like Chloe; it was definitely the same smooth nature and smile that caught Beca to begin with. One by one each of her family entered the tent to meet other parents, until only Beca's dad was left.

"Nice to finally see you in your element, kiddo." Mr. Mitchell's smile upturned on one side as he took in the scene behind Beca.

Beca awkwardly smiled, fiddling with the rings on her fingers.

"We're all meeting up again for Christmas this year if you decide to come." He winked, although flashing a small sense of sadness behind his aged eyes.

"Yes, dad, I'll come." She muttered to shut him up. "Let's go inside."

Beca beckoned him to turn and follow as she and Chloe held hands with her dad walking abreast. It was almost an odd sight to see – Mr. Mitchell in a black suit with delicate pinstripes, sporting a pink tie and a large watch, walking alongside Beca in almost a similar sable outfit, who was holding hands with Chloe in a bright blue dress. It was a stark enough sight that several people under the tent stopped talking, with Beca realizing it was mainly the other Bellas.

"Talk about white royalty." Flo whispered to the other girls beside her, awestruck at Beca's father.

"I thought it was too farfetched for Robert Mitchell to be her father." Amy breathed in reply, regarding her research into Beca's past. "I kind of imagined her father to be a myth. Like a shadow or a ghost or a Shiba Inu."

"Ghosts are, in fact, very real. One time I was working a banana stand and-"

Flo was quickly interrupted by Ashley, who added: "-Amy, you think Shiba Inus aren't real?"

"They're a conspiracy set up by the Japanese. They're really just golden retrievers." She spoke in a low voice whilst craning her head to get a better look of Beca's dad as they walked in.

As soon as the trio entered, the all-too-familiar first seven or eight notes of Toto's "Africa" started playing.

"Shit." Beca spat, dropping Chloe's hand. "I need to actually do something with that before everyone thinks I'm terrible at my job. Take him to talk to people."

Beca trusted Chloe with her father before leaving and reappearing behind her DJ table. After the third round of notes, Beca was able to start spinning the melody into something to work with. Beca's dad watched fondly for a few seconds before Chloe brought him to the girls for introductions.

He dropped his attention from Beca in her element before turning to the girls and extending a hand. "Robert Mitchell."

"More like silver fox." Amy said in between fake coughs, letting Ashley meet his hand first.

"I gather you're the rest of the Barden Bellas?" He asked in his deeper-set voice, eyeing the lot of girls before him.

"Collegiate champions." Chloe added with a confident smile, flaunting her current pride in her group as much as she could.

"So, is anyone else gonna ask him if he's definitely the owner of Bezos Plastics?" Amy asked brusquely, moving to the front of the girls.

"Indeed I am." Robert smiled kindly, trying to present as humble as possible, even though the potential direction of the conversation could indicate otherwise.

"Does that mean Beca is like, fifth in line for your company?"

"Oh, well no, she's the primary heiress." Robert answered simply, as if this was supposed to be common knowledge.

"Beca Mitchell? This is the same Beca, right?" Amy inquired with a dumbfounded expression, looking to the other girls for confirmation.

"All right, this is getting weird. We'll see you guys later." Chloe linked arms with Mr. Mitchell before courting him off to find the rest of Beca's family.

Fat Amy managed to lasso Bethany on her way back from the food table, forcing her to be with the remainder of the Bellas still in their gossip circle.

"Beca is the heiress to your dad's company?" She asked Bethany, who looked confused momentarily before answering with utter certainty.

"That's right!"

"How in the shit is that possible?" Amy's accent provided emphasis on the word "shit," which seemed to startle Bethany.

"All of us defaulted because of our own careers and Beca didn't mind picking it up in case her music backfired." Bethany answered simply. "Although, she seems really good at it. I think it really just comes down to her own confidence and belief-"

"-Alright Bethany that's great, thank you." Fat Amy let go of the girl's arm and shoo'ed her away before turning back to the girls. "Our little tator tot is sitting on a gold mine."

* * *

"Mr. Mitchell, these are my parents, Cindy and John." Chloe brought the union of Beca's dad with her own parents, almost like watching a toddler bond with another child on a play date.

"Please, call me Robert." He insisted with his hand out forward, shaking Cindy and John's hand firmly.

Chloe met Beca's eyes from across the tent, beckoning her down from her DJ responsibilities to join the conversation. Beca realized The Meet was happening, letting out an anxious breath before snagging her mother from her seat at a table.

"Hi again." Beca nervously greeted the Beales.

"Claire Lagerfeld." Beca's mom filled the blank air, introducing herself to Chloe's parents.

Each set of parents almost lit up upon their first introduction, seeming to feed off the energy of the other pair. Beca was happy to notice that her family's affluent reputation was only brought up once but was quickly moved passed. The Beales' local charm was attractive, and Cindy promised to send a basket of the finest treats from her bakery to the Mitchell home in NYC. It was almost too easy, but yet again Chloe was always there to squeeze Beca's hand when she looked a tad nervous. Their families got along, and that's all that mattered, right?

"It was wonderful to meet you." Cindy announced at the end of their conversation, shaking each of Beca's parents' hands once again. "Perhaps we'll see you again at their wedding" She added a wink, wavering between Beca and Chloe.

"I told Beca we're only going if it's in the spring. Who doesn't love a good floral design?" Claire joked in reference to her loud dress, and all four parents entered a ruckus of guffaws.

Beca and Chloe could only blush as they made eye contact before looking away in an eruption of smiles.


	8. Double IPA

Beca came to her local dive bar at the same time every week. Friday nights after work, she'd walk through the single glass door to "Pickin's" and promptly take a seat at the bar. She'd order food around 8 before some beers, then she'd evolve to buying multiple drinks as the night passed.

She easily became friends with all the other regulars as they'd sit on the dark wooden stools and complain about their office jobs. Beca had a mock secretarial role for a slimy music producer who never actually called her by her real name. Her friends spanned from salesmen to accountants to bellboys to c-list editors. Misery was company.

That Friday night, Beca had a particularly difficult night at work. Producer Slimeball listened to one of Beca's demos, for once, but he actually hated it. Practically spat in her face, claimed she had no talent, and that even the most incompetent pleb with a laptop could replicate her work.

Beca wanted to just brush off his opinions out of a sense of both desperation and hurt. Obviously she wasn't terrible, since she landed at the company in the first place, but her boss's opinion actually had some significant weight to it since he had significant marks within her industry. But Beca couldn't even call him out for being myopic – for not even seeing the musical genius it took to construct the heavily crafted and detailed foundations of lyrical editing. But he did have a point: none of her sources were original. Thus, Beca was drinking a little more heavily tonight.

Pickin's bartender Silas could sense something was marginally off for his favorite petite regular, which prompted him to walk to her side of the bar and lean over the slightly wet countertop.

"What's wrong, munchkin?" Silas laid out his affectionate pet name for Beca through a thick, southern drawl.

"The fucking usual, I guess." Beca picked at the label around her beer bottle, using the condensation on the glass to peel at the paper.

"Work troubles again?"

"Captain Asshat proved that I have no talent and the only thing I can do right is fetch coffee. And sometimes I get even that wrong. There's this one fucker who decides he wants THE most complicated fucking thing on the 'off-menu' that requires 8 special ingredients like why can't you just get a regular coffee like everyone else?" Beca spat in a seething tone, trying to keep her voice from overriding the normal chatter around the bar.

Silas looked at Beca for a moment before deciding to answer.

"If one drink cost more than $4, it ain't worth it. Unless its beer." Silas decided, leaning against his hands on the counter.

Beca simmered down a little bit, realizing her bartender friend didn't deserve her incessant complaining about work.

"You know, Silas, sometimes I wonder if that job is even worth it."

"I think about that every time y'all get wiley or when something ugly brews out." Silas clicked his tongue before adding: "But moments like this, they're all worth it. We're all one in the same – same problems, different day. Only thing separating us is this counter but I'm the same as you. Brings us on a human level. That's connection."

Beca reflected for a moment, fulling comprehending what Silas was referring to before seeing if it applied to her own life.

"Where's your connection?" Silas challenged once more, stepping back towards the wall before grabbing a dirty glass from the counter.

Beca sighed, unable to find an answer.

"For tonight, just in a drink." Beca stood up to look beyond the backlit wall of bottles for her temporary remedy.

* * *

"I'm telling you, Chlo, you need to just go for it."

Chloe and her 5 friends decided to start their night at a random bar by her place before making their way to a nightclub closer to downtown. Even though it was still relatively early in the night, one of the girls insisted that the group pre-gamed before leaving Chloe's apartment, so the lot was already relatively tipsy.

"Just sack up your lady balls and strut right up there."

"Thanks, Fat Amy, I get the picture." Chloe replied to her friend's encouragement with a slight blush.

Fat Amy was referencing a noteworthy figure sporting a black leather jacket and dark blue jeans leaning against the bar. The girl was alone with her drink but seemed relatively friendly because she was chummy with the bartender.

Chloe had only recently came out as bisexual to her college buddies, and they were only more than positively acceptive of it. Almost too much, in fact, since they kept trying to push her onto random women they spotted in public. Encouraging, yes, but effective, no.

"She's probably not even gay." Chloe muttered to her friends, shyly speaking in a hushed tone across the table.

"With that jacket? Come on." Another friend spoke, rolling her eyes and going to sip the last of her mixed drink through the straw before realizing her glass was empty. "We also need more driiiiinks."

"Stacie, please…" Chloe whined. Her nervousness about approaching women still hadn't changed.

"She's right Spice Tot, we need some shots." Fat Amy decided, with other girls nodding their heads in agreement.

"Ugh, fine. I hate you guys sometimes." Chloe stood up, swiping crumbs off her skirt. "What am I getting?"

"TEQUILA!" Fat Amy shouted as Chloe started to walk towards the bar.

The volume was loud enough that the same figure at the counter heard it, and she ended up turning around to find the source of the noise before making eye contact with Chloe. The next 5 feet of distance was mildly awkward, but Chloe ended up strolling right next to the girl at the bar.

"Sorry." Chloe mumbled to the girl beside her, apologizing for the rudeness of her friends.

"Bachelorette party?" The girl nudged her beer towards Chloe's back table, eyeing the group of girls who were all laughing excruciatingly loudly.

"Oh, ha, no." Chloe nervously laughed, moving to match the pose of the leather jacketed brunette. "Just a normal night out."

"Ah. Yikes." The girl muttered, sipping her drink with a cock of the eyebrow.

The girl wasn't charming per se, but she exerted an odd sense of Big Dick Energy that Chloe had a hard time placing.

"Are you friends with the bartender?" Chloe tried to maintain conversation but using the venue as small talk wasn't that successful. She was also trying to feel just how hard it would be to flag down the bartender to get her friends shots and flee back to her table.

"You could say that." The girl finished the bottom of her drink before letting it rest back on the counter. "I come here a lot."

She felt pity for the failed efforts of the lost ginger puppy next to her, so she flagged down Silas from the middle of the bar down to their end.

"Hey Silas, I'll take a double IPA on draft and this little lady would like…" The girl cocked her head in Chloe's direction, prompting her to reply.

"Um, 6 shots of Patrón?"

"6?" Silas asked for confirmation, holding up fingers on his hand to motion for six.

Chloe nodded with a smile before Silas left to get their drinks.

The girl scoffed in disbelief. "You can pound 6 shots?" She wanted to admit she was a little impressed, but she wouldn't start the ovation until she witnessed it herself.

"For the Bachelorette party." Chloe giggled, fiddling with her credit card in hand. She saw how the girl slyly grinned at her.

"I like the way you think."

"Here's yours, Beca, and I'll be back with the shot orgy." Silas dropped off Beca's beer before turning back to grab clean shot glasses and the handle of Patrón.

Chloe felt a weird sense of internal satisfaction now that she heard the bar girl's name, even if she couldn't ask for it herself.

When Silas returned, he filled each of the glasses in front of the pair before topping off the rims with a lime wedge.

Chloe leaned in towards Beca, awfully close, and with a cupped hand pretended to whisper: "I could just down these all now and not share with my friends. Would sum up the amount of bad news I've gotten this week."

Beca noticed the sudden intrusion of space, but she chose not to back down from the pretty redhead now orbiting her eyeline.

"Bad week too, huh?" Beca asked rhetorically. "Would you share one with me at least?"

Beca knew she was being forward, in a way that was still pretty coy. She had a hard time deciphering what the ginger's deal was, but you didn't exactly approach a loner at the bar to make friends. Plus Beca was at the Fuck It point in the week where it was almost if consequences didn't apply to her anymore.

"Maybe I could spare…" Chloe whispered gently, hovering before Beca's lips and glancing at them with soft eyes.

Beca broke the distance slowly, lazily kissing Chloe's lips before dragging away in a downwards swipe as a tease. Chloe hungrily searched back, and their lips met again.

It wasn't long before they started gingerly making out at the end of the bar. Beca's hand was cupped firmly at the nape of Chloe's neck, and they were rolling lips along one side of their faces. Beca even went so far as to open her eyes for an extended period of time, watching how Chloe's eyelids were loosely closed and how her forehead would somehow furrow as their lips tumbled together.

Beca resumed her more concentrated effort, and the sight of the pair wasn't hard to spot. Silas gave a short whistle as he was drying glasses with a rag, and even Chloe's friends were starting to notice. Fat Amy's eventual loud cheering caused Beca and Chloe's makeout session to abruptly end – with Chloe pulling away with swollen lips and a noticeable blush.

Beca wiped the side of her own mouth with her thumb. "Well. You should probably deliver those." She nudged at the collection of shots next to Chloe's elbow.

Chloe gave them a quick glance before meeting Beca's gaze one again.

"They don't need them." Chloe answered before grabbing Beca's face and picking up right where they left off.


End file.
